Matt C. Abbott
Catholic mother promotes faith, fitness, and patriotism
By Matt C. Abbott
Jeanine Notter is a practicing Catholic, mother of six, and host of her own television talk show, "Chattin' with Jeanine," which airs on Merrimack Community Television in Merrimack, N.H.
The 27-minute show airs 16 times each week, with hour-long specials airing eight times each week.
Mrs. Notter's story is an interesting one.
"First of all, I have always been pro-life," Mrs. Notter recounted (via e-mail). "I saw pictures of aborted babies when I was in the fifth grade. I don't know if that was what made me pro-life or if I would have been anyway.
"Around 1985, I saw Bobby Garwood on a news show. He talked about American Prisoners of War-Missing in Action, alive, and still in captivity in Southeast Asia. This bothered me tremendously. As it turns out, the son of the last listed POW, Col. Charles E. Shelton, was a priest at our parish, St. Thomas the Apostle, in Riverside, Calif.
"My husband was in ROTC at the time (at USC). The squadron needed a name. I suggested Col. Shelton. The squadron asked for a biography. That is how I got started writing and being an activist. The biography I wrote can be found at www.lastpow.com.
"I wrote a lot of letters to the editor during the latter half of the1980s on all sorts of conservative topics. I had two articles published in The New American in 1990, on the POW issue. We lived in Texas at the time. We moved back to California in 1991. I became more active in the pro-life movement and was the editor of the pro-life newsletter at our parish, St. Francis de Sales.
"In 1993 I had an article in The Wanderer about a pro-life event in Riverside. Our pastor, Father Louis Marx, gave the opening prayer. Father Marx is a very good and holy priest. He taught me a lot about our Faith. I had the opportunity to take a class on Catholic dogma and the sacraments by another good and holy priest, Father William J. Marcotte.
"After my children grew in number, I took a long break from writing and being an activist. But that changed when we moved to New Hampshire in 1998. We found a very beautiful, old church — St. Francis Xavier.
"The parish had a 'town meeting,' and I went to it, armed with a book on liturgical abuses. I stood up and expected to be booed, but, amazingly, I wasn't, and a few changes were made. I don't know if I had anything to do with it or not. I had heard that the bishop had ordered a few of the abuses stopped."
When Bishop John B. McCormack announced that St. Francis Xavier would be closing, Mrs. Notter took action.
"I tried to get the bishop to give the church to the Fraternity of St. Peter. It was made for the Latin Mass. The more liberal members were alarmed by this and started their own group, 'Save Our Church.' They wanted to keep it modern and run it themselves. Meanwhile, I started proceedings to sue Bishop McCormack in the Vatican courts. (One of the individuals who sent me a donation for this endeavor was Noel Dube. He was the G.I. who blew the wall on the beach of Normandy on D-Day. He turned his yard into a shrine for Our Lady of Fatima.)
"Activist Lori Mitchelle, of Ohio, read about our plight in The Wanderer, and called me to introduce me to the only English speaking Vatican lawyer, Al Kershaw. When it was apparent that we could not win this battle, I gave the money I had collected to the Corpus Christi Adoration Chapel in Nashua.
"When St. Francis Xavier closed, I prayed, 'Now where do we go?' As if in answer to a prayer, on the front page of The Union Leader was a picture of Father Tom Steinmetz from Our Lady of the Cedars Greek Melkite Catholic Church. The word 'Byzantine' practically leapt off the page. I knew Roman Catholics were permitted to go there. We liked it there so much that after a year or so, we transferred rites. We are now officially Melkite Catholics."
One thing led to another, and "Chattin' with Jeanine" began on community television.
Among Mrs. Notter's sundry topics of discussion: exercise for beginners (she's a certified fitness professional), children in sports, POW/MIAs, prescription drugs, autism, the benefits of homeschooling, and Our Lady of Fatima.
Mrs. Notter, who's had several family members go to Iraq, says she sent a package every week to her cousin and his crew in Afghanistan.
"They sent me a battle flag. I hung it during my show a couple of weeks ago."
© Matt C. Abbott
Jeanine Notter is a practicing Catholic, mother of six, and host of her own television talk show, "Chattin' with Jeanine," which airs on Merrimack Community Television in Merrimack, N.H.
The 27-minute show airs 16 times each week, with hour-long specials airing eight times each week.
Mrs. Notter's story is an interesting one.
"First of all, I have always been pro-life," Mrs. Notter recounted (via e-mail). "I saw pictures of aborted babies when I was in the fifth grade. I don't know if that was what made me pro-life or if I would have been anyway.
"Around 1985, I saw Bobby Garwood on a news show. He talked about American Prisoners of War-Missing in Action, alive, and still in captivity in Southeast Asia. This bothered me tremendously. As it turns out, the son of the last listed POW, Col. Charles E. Shelton, was a priest at our parish, St. Thomas the Apostle, in Riverside, Calif."My husband was in ROTC at the time (at USC). The squadron needed a name. I suggested Col. Shelton. The squadron asked for a biography. That is how I got started writing and being an activist. The biography I wrote can be found at www.lastpow.com.
"I wrote a lot of letters to the editor during the latter half of the1980s on all sorts of conservative topics. I had two articles published in The New American in 1990, on the POW issue. We lived in Texas at the time. We moved back to California in 1991. I became more active in the pro-life movement and was the editor of the pro-life newsletter at our parish, St. Francis de Sales.
"In 1993 I had an article in The Wanderer about a pro-life event in Riverside. Our pastor, Father Louis Marx, gave the opening prayer. Father Marx is a very good and holy priest. He taught me a lot about our Faith. I had the opportunity to take a class on Catholic dogma and the sacraments by another good and holy priest, Father William J. Marcotte.
"After my children grew in number, I took a long break from writing and being an activist. But that changed when we moved to New Hampshire in 1998. We found a very beautiful, old church — St. Francis Xavier.
"The parish had a 'town meeting,' and I went to it, armed with a book on liturgical abuses. I stood up and expected to be booed, but, amazingly, I wasn't, and a few changes were made. I don't know if I had anything to do with it or not. I had heard that the bishop had ordered a few of the abuses stopped."
When Bishop John B. McCormack announced that St. Francis Xavier would be closing, Mrs. Notter took action.
"I tried to get the bishop to give the church to the Fraternity of St. Peter. It was made for the Latin Mass. The more liberal members were alarmed by this and started their own group, 'Save Our Church.' They wanted to keep it modern and run it themselves. Meanwhile, I started proceedings to sue Bishop McCormack in the Vatican courts. (One of the individuals who sent me a donation for this endeavor was Noel Dube. He was the G.I. who blew the wall on the beach of Normandy on D-Day. He turned his yard into a shrine for Our Lady of Fatima.)
"Activist Lori Mitchelle, of Ohio, read about our plight in The Wanderer, and called me to introduce me to the only English speaking Vatican lawyer, Al Kershaw. When it was apparent that we could not win this battle, I gave the money I had collected to the Corpus Christi Adoration Chapel in Nashua.
"When St. Francis Xavier closed, I prayed, 'Now where do we go?' As if in answer to a prayer, on the front page of The Union Leader was a picture of Father Tom Steinmetz from Our Lady of the Cedars Greek Melkite Catholic Church. The word 'Byzantine' practically leapt off the page. I knew Roman Catholics were permitted to go there. We liked it there so much that after a year or so, we transferred rites. We are now officially Melkite Catholics."
One thing led to another, and "Chattin' with Jeanine" began on community television.
Among Mrs. Notter's sundry topics of discussion: exercise for beginners (she's a certified fitness professional), children in sports, POW/MIAs, prescription drugs, autism, the benefits of homeschooling, and Our Lady of Fatima.
Mrs. Notter, who's had several family members go to Iraq, says she sent a package every week to her cousin and his crew in Afghanistan.
"They sent me a battle flag. I hung it during my show a couple of weeks ago."
© Matt C. Abbott
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